Legacy of the Beast, a new home brew for the Atari 2600, a tribute to the classic Shadow of the beast. This version has many more enemy types added then the earlier version we played and while I didn’t get very far in the below video (but kept trying), I added pictures here of my later games.
Legacy of the Beast Home brew for the Atari 2600 is in beta form right now and it is a lovingly crafted tribute to the original Shadow of the Beast,
This is our second video on this great home brew and since the first I have had a chance to talk with the developer via PM a quick Q and A on the project,
Aeriform (Michael)
What was your first game system?
The first system I played as a child was the 2600 and the aesthetics and quirkiness of it stuck with me.
What did you think when you saw the classic Amiga Shadow of the Beast?
I was introduced to Shadow of the Beast some years later and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen on a computer; The colours, large detailed sprites, atmosphere and music. It resonated with me in a way more strongly than any other side scrolling games of the time.
What are your goals for this home brew?
I decided to finally look into 2600 games that were actually made and had the crazy idea to see what it would take to do a conversion of Beast for it. I wanted it to be as faithful and accurate to the original as I could possibly make it with the capabilities of a system from 1977. 4K ROM, 128 bytes RAM, and a screen buffer more temperamental than CSS.
There are some intentional differences, some sacrifices that needed to be made with what could be done. I am very proud of the amount of content I have been able to get into the game—almost all based and inspired by the stages and enemies of the original, with non-linear exploration.
Do you have any hints for getting by the dark dark level?
My only hint is to watch a video of the Amiga version in action.
The version I was provided by the developer, aeriform, which can be found at aeriform.itch.io/beast is a 4K bin game image that can be run in emulators and on real hardware with a multicart.
On The Stella using the beast_release_20061901.bin
As you will see, the game does a great job replicating the look of the original as if it was released by Activision or one of the more polished VCS game companies in 1983. It has multi-colored smooth scrolling backgrounds to simulate the SOB background, large sprites to fight and avoid and an underground level that is filled with peril.
There is no sound in the game yet, but in my interview with Aeriform, he said that sound and adding more to the levels, but keeping ion under 4k is his next goal.
He has crafted the entire game so far in pure 6502 assembly and it and it shows.
https://aeriform.itch.io/beast you can help donate to the cause to get this game created and it into cart form if possible. Right now he is just selling the rom file for whatever you would like to donate.
Go over and contribute a couple bucks and take a look. The final product should be excellent based on what I have seen so far.
